Whispers of the Shadows
by Narutoxaddict
Summary: Naruto hears someone calling his name, and someone stading just out of sight. Will Naruto ever discover who secretly has watched over him.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I will sadly never own Naruto.

Alright, this is just a prologue; I'm not really sure if I should pursue this story till the end. This is a MinatoXNaruto fic: fatherXson not slash!

Swirling colors, flashings shades, warping reflections confusing his vision and making him feel sick. Unsynchronized sounds and voices that murmured unintelligible words that gave away nothing but inflicting pain from the serrated edges of the unrecognizable syllables. A dizzying sensation that swirled around him while mocking laughter tore him to pieces with his most deeply buried fears and darkest emotions. He felt like chains were coiled around him, encased in an iron grip that held him no matter how hard he struggled against the hot searing metal.

The mentally and physically agonizing torment continued as he felt heated flames lick his body, feeling his flesh melt at such an abusing touch. He sealed his mouth shut, half in pain and the other in defiance; refusing to give whatever it was that it was demanded of him. The feverish sensation increased in intensity and a bargaining plea for release rose to his lips.

His limit was finally breached.

But then something clearer came through the hazy mist of sensations that alerted his sedated conscious. Someone was shouting, begging, but he couldn't hear it clearly over the roaring storm. He tried to focus on that sound, attempting to find a stable support to regain control. The voice was getting louder, accumulating power behind it. Soon, what could once have been considered begging became a harsh demand from one that was used to taking command.

The restraints around him grew increasingly tighter, squeezing the air out of his lungs and silencing any confession that was rising in the back of his throat. Adrenalin surged through him as his last resort energy kicked in, forcing him into fight-or-flight mode. However, all of his expended effort brought no results while a sense of panic thoroughly set in and took hold.

Taking in his last shallow breath, he tried to yell but nothing loud enough came out but strangled gasps that searched for wholesome oxygen.

He was going to die.

A sharp sounding command echoed around him, eerily distorted but filled with strength none the less.

Suddenly, he was let go.

Naruto quickly sat up in his bed; he was panting, and perspiration beaded his forehead, running in droplets down his neck to the saturated shirt that he wore. The nightmare that had awoken him left vivid blurry images ingrained into his conscious that continued to make his heart race, creating a fast paced drumbeat in his ears.

Naruto closed his eyes and the mental pictures faded away to be replaced with relieving intakes of breath. He often had nightmares, and that was unfortunately a common occurrence; but this particular one plagued him like an irritating itch. It kept coming back much to his endless agitation harder and with stronger power than he could have imagined.

Retracting from his inner thoughts, he shifted his focus back to the physical world around him. Naruto wiped away the cooling moisture on his face with the back of his hand and took stock of the collateral damage; the sheets were soaked to the point of transparency and his nightclothes were also damp enough to make the fabric change shades. He stepped out of bed and threw back the top sheet so it wouldn't become a wad of foul smelling blankets, he'd have to wash them later with the other laundry.

Naruto slouched to the tiny bathroom in his cramped apartment and flicked the light switch on. Shuffling his feet across the cold tile, Naruto approached the sink and twisted the cold water faucet. He washed his face and arms clean of sweat before stripping down to put on a clean pair of boxers.

Turning back around to glance through the open door to the alarm in the bedroom, he swore when he realized how little time he had before being late by even Kakashi's rather stretched and unreasonable standards.

Naruto pulled on clean clothes and quickly walked into his kitchen. He hurriedly choking down a cup of instant ramen, not exactly certain what flavor it was, and tossed the empty container in the trash. He made a quick check to make sure that he had everything before grabbing his forehead protector that gleamed with pristine under the light.

As Naruto tied his headband he had the unnerving sensation that he was being watched. He glanced around, seeing that he was indeed alone, and decided he was just paranoid; must have been left over from the remnants of his nighttime terror. Scolding himself for being so stupid he pulled on both ends of the cloth to form a solid knot at the back of his head.

The blond shinobi grabbed his keys sitting on the edge of a countertop and opened his front door, which squawked pathetically for lubrication, and felt the fresh morning air open his senses for the new day.

Just as he slid the lock in place behind him, ready close the door, Naruto shifted his head to both sides when a peculiar noise reached his ears. He shook his head, deciding he needed to focus on the objectives ahead, instead of neighbors' conversations; Naruto slid the portal shut with a quieter thud.

However, he couldn't shake the feeling that the words were coming from his own apartment, slipping quietly over the threshold by a leaking draft. For from within the room that was dimly lit by the morning light, whispers fell from the unseen lips of shadows painted across the walls that said his name for only him to hear.

'Naruto …'

Well do you think that the story could be worth your time? Please review to tell me what you think. Thank you!! Updated: 03/08/09.


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, I normally don't write this long of a chapter but here is my valentines day gift to all of you who read this. Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto .

"Talking"

_Thinking or flashback_

Naruto snapped his front door behind him and threw his house key on the table where an empty ramen container also rested. The blond shinobi sat down on the edge of his bed and traced the lines on the floor of his bedroom with his eyes. He gave a deep sigh as he reviewed the conversation that he had just had with Sakura, all of the angry words that were spoken. Did they each truly mean such ugly and cruel words that passed their lips, or were they spur of the moment, half-processed, emotionally driven daggers that only searched to gain the higher moral ground.

Either way, Naruto knew that such damaging words deeply bruised their already shaky relationship. He squeezed his eyes shut, running a hand threw his hair, realizing that yet another painful conflict had been caused by someone who didn't even have enough emotion to feel guilt in his obsessive quest for vengeance.

The boy's fist slammed into the table, desperately trying to release the increasing frustration that was building up inside of him like hot molten magma. His teeth ground, cursing the unforgiving brutal cycle that his and Sakura's relationship had taken to after their return from Oruchimaru's lair.

The burning images of their arguments, each filled with the same repetitive motions- reminding Naruto of some sickly nauseating dance of old- flaring his cooling temper. Her angry eyes, the heated sensation in is face; and the clenching of her gloved knuckles with the verbal venom that he felt spewing past his lips.

As the depressing movie rolled in his mind, the young shinobi suddenly grabbed at his chest where a sharp, constricting pain choked his train of thought.

It hurt really badly; he had heard of people suffering from a broken heart, but he never imagined that it would actually feel like the cavity in chest was being punctured by sharp shards of glass. Looking back on it, his everyday emotional mask had fractured during his small speech; and now he couldn't seem to fit the worn and repeatedly broken pieces back together.

It seemed a long time since he had really cried, but the salty droplets were quickly pattering on the floor at his feet. Naruto heard a soft ripping noise that was escalating in volume; he quickly realized that the noises were sobs coming from his own chest. Naruto curled up on his old mattress and finally let his misery consume him. He knew it was probably inevitable that Sakura would officially turn him down but he had never expected it this soon.

As his room became more illuminated he realized that he had been crying all night. Though he had stopped sobbing, tears still streamed down his cheeks. Naruto closed his eyes to try and get some sleep before showing up on the training ground in a few hours time. His efforts, however, were futile; he couldn't make his body and mind relax enough to allow sleep to take him.

A breeze that felt like fingers, caressed through his hair and murmured whispers reached his ears.

"_You are fine, you are loved, and you are safe."_

Naruto could have sworn that he felt someones weight pushing down the edge of his bed, but the sensations were so soothing, he was afraid to much movement would break the illusion and send him back to harsh reality. The blond shinobi had never been comforted like this, not even in his dreams that often left more scars then his waking hours.

The blaring morning alarm broke the dream like glass against pavement; the weight on the bed was instantly gone, and the fingers had withdrawn back into his subconscious. Naruto groaned, it had been such a nice fantasy and he was tempted to be purposely late for training to see if he could go back and enjoy the wonderfully soothing dream.

Sighing, Naruto his the reset button on his alarm and slipped out of bed; he might as well get it over with. He looked at himself in the mirror and decided that he looked like hell. Naruto scrubbed his face and wet his hair to at least look like he had attempted to comb it sometime within the last week.

As Naruto closed the medicine cabinet he noticed a flashing pair of blue eyes look sorrowfully from the back corner of the bathroom. The young shinobi jerked his head quickly to look at the darkened corner but there was nothing to be seen but the bathroom wall. Though not as easy to brush off as the previous events, the blond let it pass; he was tired and had to work on applying his emotional mask before facing his team, it wouldn't do any good to break down there of all places.

He sat in silence before a steaming ramen container and brewed over yesterday's events. He at least didn't still fee like crying anymore; he had cried himself out last night. Looking at himself in the reflection in his spoon, he could determine was at least presentable.

He trashed all the empty the cups in the garbage and cleaned off the table. As he looked up from the sink, he glanced at the calendar. He hadn't looked at the date for a while; he hadn't realized that his birthday would be in two days.

Naruto decided that he really needed to get going or he would receive one of Kakashi's usual lectures, all he needed to do was grab his key. "Crap, where the hell did I put that stupid thing." Naruto then remembered that he had thrown the key on the table when he came home. But that couldn't be, he hadn't seen the key when he cleaned the table. Naruto looked in the garbage, on the counter top, and even under the table, but no key to be found.

"Oh, come on! How far could that thing have gone," Naruto yelled to nobody in particular, coming up from under the table, "its not like the thing can just get up and…" Naruto stopped in mid sentence. There on his table was the key. The blond picked it up with a shaking hand, how had it gotten there? He cleaned off all the surfaces in the kitchen and the key hadn't been there before.

Now Naruto was unnerved, this was not easily pushed a side like the whispers that could have come from a nearby apartment; the comforting sensations that could have just been a dream, or the blue eyes that could have been a trick of light or his imagination. This was just plain and unexplainably weird. The key had physically moved, that couldn't be explained away as background noise or mental confusion.

The blond quickly put on his headband and turned around to leave. He had his hand on the knob and turned it. When suddenly he felt icy cold fingertips brush across his neck and heard something murmur:

"My son …"

Without a backwards glance, Naruto threw the door open and closed behind him and ran as fast as he could to the training grounds.

Naruto managed to calm himself before he got to the training grounds, and put his idiotic façade. Throughout practice things seemed tense between him and Sakura. Kakashi either didn't notice, or didn't interfere- it was honestly hard to tell- from his perch in the tree reading his classy orange book. After practice was over and his teacher dismissed him, Naruto left before Sakura could intercept him. He would talk to her eventually, but now wasn't the time or the place for another possible conflict.

But Naruto really didn't want to go back home and face whatever it was that appeared to be stalking him. His body shivered at the thought. He walked around Konoha not really going anywhere or watching where he was going. He eventually ended up in one of the old training grounds at the outskirts.

Standing alone, appreciating the solitude, Naruto observed all of the trees nearby, and even some of the ones far away, older then the village itself. After a couple minutes he heard someone callout to him.

"Naruto…," the voice was meek and held little authority.

Turning around, Naruto smiled, "hey Hinata, what are you doing here?"

"My team just finished training and I decided to go for a walk."

"Hmm, hey would you like to go with me to eat ramen," it was a stupid thing to ask, but hey at least he had a destination to go to now wether she accepted or not.

"Uhhhh, sure why not."

Naruto smiled grew larger, not expecting the invitation to be accepted, "Great, I know of the best place in town."

Naruto and Hinata arrived at the ramen stand and talked forever about anything. How training was going, the latest missions, whatever the conversation brought up. Naruto walked Hinata back to the Hyuga compound and stopped at the entrance.

"Well I guess this is goodbye. I'll see you around." He turned to go after rubbing the hair at the back of his head flat.

"Wait Naruto, I was wondering; if you had anyone to spend the festival with."

Naruto paused for a minute to digest what the shy white-eyed girl had said. Had she just asked him out? The shinobi managed to say without stuttering, "No, I don't have anything planned, if you're free to we could go together."

Hinata blushed a deep rouge, "Great, I'll meet you at the ramen stand. See ya' then." After saying their goodbyes, Naruto left on his elevated mood to his home; he had forgotten completely about the entity.

Naruto entered his apartment and placed the key into a clean bowl on the counter of his small kitchen. He entered his bathroom and took a hot shower. Naruto got into a clean t-shirt and pair of boxers and stepped up to the mirror. With his hand, he swept the fogged glass revealing the slick surface.

The blond stumbled and slipped on the wet tile. He saw this time a full figured man in the glass this time. The shadow's features were unclear, but it's startling piercing blue eyes drilled into the young shinobi's. Naruto regained his balance and gripped the sink as he looked in the mirror at his own reflection, to the place where a moment ago he had seen the dark man.

Naruto let his panting breath return to its original rhythm. His joyful mood had instantly evaporated. He walked, shaking, into his bedroom and laid down on his bed. He felt on edge, it was going to be another long night.

The young shinobi didn't know what to do. He couldn't exactly go up to anyone and say that something was stalking him every time he went home. They would laugh at him and send him off to a medic ninja to be given a psychological test.

The occurrences were also becoming more obvious; whatever was in his apartment was getting stronger. Naruto wasn't sure if he was supposed to be afraid, other than the creepy pranks the spirit hadn't done anything to harm him.

Naruto fell asleep and entered another well-known dream-scape.

_He was standing in a darkened forest; the sky was black and starless. Flashes of light flitted through the trees, and Oruchimaru stepped into view._

"_Well, if it isn't the Kyubi brat, what a pleasant surprise. Come here to get Sasuke back I suppose," voiced oily and smooth through the clearing._

"_What the hell do you know about teammates, you can't possibly say that from your experience, you left your teammates and became a traitor to your own village"_

"_You mean exactly how Sasuke left you?"_

_Naruto was speechless; he didn't have a comeback for that one._

"_Well, Sasuke will definitely be pissed I kill you, he probably wanted to do it himself. But I believe I've earned my self some fun," Oruchimaru said licking his lips with his long tongue._

"_Haven't you done enough to torment people in your own," came a strong clear voice. " I believe that you've done enough on your part to hurt anyone." A man appeared beside Oruchimaru and shattered him like a piece of glass. _

_The man turned towards Naruto; it was the man that he had seen in his mirror! Though the man was a little more defined then when he had seen him in the mirror, most of his features were still cast in darkness. The figure smiled at him; he had a kind smile. _

"_You've grown a so much since I last saw you."_

"_Who are you!"?_

_The figure's smile disappeared, and a sad look approached his eyes. "You really don't know who I am, do you? That hurts more than you can imagine."_

"_That doesn't answer my question!"_

The man looked straight into Naruto's eyes and opened his mouth …

The alarm blared its awakening signal and jolted Naruto awake. The blond pushed his hair out of his eyes and swore at the buzzing box on his bedside table. He had been so close to finding the man's name. It had been on the tip of his tongue, the information just milliseconds away.

The young shinobi held his face in his hands, he was slowly losing; it would only be a matter of time before he became insane.

This came out really well, reviews are really appreciated. Updated: 03/08/10


	3. Chapter 3

Alright, I'm sorry for the wait. I accidentally posted the wrong chapter, and my laptop crashed. After my computer did finally decide to run, I found I wasn't happy with the way I had originally wrote the chapter. I am thankful for those of you who have reviewed and favorited this story. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait!! Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto you corrupt lawyers!!!

Naruto left the treat stand with Hinata next to him. He had bought both of them two sticks of dango and was on their way up to the top of the hokage monument. Since he knew a shortcut, they both arrived at the peak while light from the sun still illuminated the landscape.

"Here we are, the best seats in the house; nobody can get a better view from the fireworks."

"I don't usually go to these festivals, I never have anyone to go with."

"That'll make two of us, this is the first time I've gotten everyone to go with me. I went to a lot of festivals while I was training though."

"Really," Hinata questioned earnestly.

"Yeah, hey I think the fireworks are starting," he said turning his attention away from the girl.

Over the close horizon to the west sparks began to light the dark sky in breathtaking colors. After about half an hour, the finale lit the sky in blues and reds with deafening bangs and shrieks from the screaming rockets. After the last rocket had gone off and left its smoky trail in the sky, people below the pair applauded the performance before packing up and returning home.

Naruto led Hinata by the hand safely back down the trail. After nearing the end of the steep path, he jumped off the last high step to the soft earth. Hinata went to follow him, while looking at the innocent blond shinobi, and caught her foot on a thick tree root.

Stumbling down the slope, she crashes forward into Naruto, ending with her arms around his neck. Both froze in the embrace.

The white-faced girl's entire visage turned the color of a red apple to match the blonde's ripening cheeks. Realizing what was about to happen, Naruto steps back to try and prevent another fainting incident. Seeming to regain control, Hinata shakes her head to clear the steam that clouded behind her eyes.

Both teens look away with heated faces and Naruto grabs her hand delicately while continuing to lead the way.

At the entrance, Hinata turned and faced Naruto.

"Thanks for taking me to the show; it was really nice."

Smiling the blond rubbed the back of his head as he asked her another question.

"Well, if you liked it that much maybe we can do it again sometime."

"You mean like a date?"

"Well …"

"I'd love to! It sounds like fun," she said excitedly. Then noticing that her partner's attention had changed, "Are you alright?"

The black haired girl glanced worriedly at the blond shinobi and the look his face had taken. Naruto was looking past her in what appeared to be a mixture of shock and fear.

Naruto regained his composure and zoned in again.

"Yeah, I'll see you around."

Hinata still looked worried but went inside her home. When she was gone Naruto threw another hurried look at the street corner that had captured his interest earlier. He had seen the man on the street corner looking at him with the same shadowed features.

'Shit! That thing can follow me around now too! I can barely sleep enough at home as it is! I' m losing it!'

He gave a shaking sigh, he had to go home; it was unavoidable. When he arrived at his front door, he unlocked the door and closed it behind him. His home was silent, never a good sign. He sat down in the chair at his small table; he felt the man watching him, probably right in front of him.

Naruto kept his hair covering his eyes to avoid seeing the serious blue eyes that would be looking sorrowfully from across the table. Emotions that he had been bottling up for days were mounting; he was close to breaking down.

With half of him filled with insanity, he muttered to himself, "If I ignore it, it will go away." Naruto sat at his table staring down at the cheap top surface. The atmosphere lay thick with confusion and worry; Naruto realized that neither of the two was coming from him. The young shinobi hears a sliding noise behind him, but he doesn't look up. Several seconds tick by with the pressing silence; the blond shifts uncomfortably in his seat; he never liked long periods of quiet.

Almost out of nowhere, a notepad and a pen, that had previously been on the counter behind him, dropped with a flop in front of him. Naruto tries his best not to react, though he flinches when he realizes what happened.

After several more seconds of silence, the confusion shrouding the room evolves into sadness and the pad and utensil are pushed closer to him until it was directly in his field of vision. The boy slowly gets out of his chair and enters his bedroom; he grabs one of the lone books that had been given to him over the years.

Naruto sat back down at the table and pushed the objects towards the edge and continued to ignore the eyes that were staring into the back of his head. Just as he had read a couple of lines, the pad and pen pushed back into the center of the table and stood perfectly still. A few minutes passed and a feeling of agitation swept across the air. The shinobi could taste the emotion cloaking him on his tongue every time he took a breath, but continued reading as if nothing was happening. The two objects slid directly in front of him, nearly falling off the edge of the table if they hadn't been stopped.

The boy turned around in his seat to place an elbow atop the back of the chair. Naruto felt the book suddenly ripped from his hands and smack against the nearest wall.

Naruto felt like he had enough for one night and stood from his chair; he still ignored the full bodied man he would have saw if he had looked up and ran directly for the door. He quickly grabs his keys and puts a palm on the door handle to turn it when he feels and icy cold hand grab his shoulder as if to hold him back.

When the cold sensation spreads across his shoulder, Naruto's heart races with adrenaline fueled fear. Not a second passes before Naruto almost pulls the door the off it's hinges as he opens and slams the door to escape into the dark beyond.

Naruto ends up back on top of the Hokage monument. His breath comes ragged and uneven from his all-out sprint from his apartment. He leans his back up against a tree and slides down to the cooling soil at its base. With the back of his hand raised up to wipe the perspiration, the straw haired boy realized that it was shaking.

When his heart slowed down to a normal pace he got up and walked to a nearby stream. He washed his face, neck, and hair in the brisk water to remove the stank, sweaty musk from his flight of fear.

Resting against the tree again, the young man brings his knees to his chest and places his forehead forward to complete his protective position.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but Naruto awoke hours later when the rising sun's light illuminated his face. The boy waked over to the river again and looked at his reflection; he saw that he at least looked put together enough to meet up with Kakashi and Sakura so he brushed the accumulated dirt off his clothes and went to the usual training ground early to wait for them.

When the sky had faded to an aqua color, Sakura arrived at a casual pace until she saw Naruto was already there. She looked down guiltily and continued towards her teammate. When she was near him she stood nervously but didn't speak. Sakura cleared her throat like she was about to say something, but backed down. After another deep breath and another throat clearing, she asked as calmly as she could.

"Naruto …?"

"Hmm."

"Naruto; Naruto I think I need to apologize. I acted like a real selfish bitch. To be honest, I'm not sure of my feelings, but I shouldn't stop you from moving on. I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've hurt. After you left, I felt horrible. If you can forgive me…" she stopped when she saw Naruto hold up his hand.

"In all honesty, after the fight, I was as torn up as you. We both hit a bit below the belt. I forgive you," Naruto looked up at her with a smile. Sakura matched it and begun to dig around in her bag.

"Well, I figured that you would still be angry with me, but I bought you something for your birthday." Naruto looked shocked when he remembered the date, his stress had made him forget about it completely. Sakura held out a small black box to him with a nervous grin on her face. "Happy Birthday." Naruto held the lid of the box between his thumb and index finger; with a slow motion he lifted the top and peered at the contents inside.

His eyes widened when he saw the gift. It was a picture with an orange brassy frame; the picture itself however held his attention. It was a picture of him in Sakura together.

They were both on the red bridge where the team often met; he was casually leaning against the wooden railing, which was in deep need of paint job, and Sakura was sitting on the railing with her feet dangling. Sakura looked halfway through laughing, and Naruto had one of his signature grins that held a feeling of warmth and comfort that felt contagious in the photo. Naruto felt his face pull into a grin that mirrored himself in the picture.

When he looked up Sakura was still grinning with a genuine illumination. Kakashi finally arrived on the scene to see both of his students smiling. He looked from one to the other curiously before the pair discovered he had arrived. Naruto closed the box and both got ready for the daily training.

Naruto was walking away from the Ramen shop and his happy euphoria was draining. He felt worn from the long day, but the thought of returning to his apartment and that… thing, made him physically cringe. The shinobi didn't know what to do, that presence was eating away at his sanity. He was even tempted to save up his money and move; but even if he could find a place to stay, which was unlikely, it could take years to save up that kind of money.

He took a turn down an alley, he wasn't really paying attention to where he was going, and walked around the various pieces debris. There wasn't much light in the alley, only the muted and dull light from the windows of villagers, and didn't immediately sense the sharp blue eyes and shadow following him.

When Naruto reached the darkened corner of another street, he felt something watching him. His eyes enlarged in shock when he saw the dark figure less than three feet behind him. He knew it was the same man because the eyes that looked so creepily like his own.

Naruto stood there for several tense seconds trying to stare down the shadow.

The man's blue spheres emanated worry and frustration. The figure stepped forward and Naruto threw a shuriken. The sharp bladed weapon sailed right through the man and clanked against the wall behind him. Naruto ground his teeth and slowly backed away as the figure took another few steps forward.

The young shinobi found that when he attempted to speak, his throat had become dry and constricted. "Why can't you just leave me alone; why can't you just leave and go back from where you came from?" His voice was barely a whisper but the shadow man appeared to hear him.

The ghostly figure took another final step forward; they were inches apart and Naruto could feel the cool temperature that appeared to surround the man. Naruto nearly fell over when the presence responded to him, _"Naruto …"_

"Get away from me."

"Please …"

Naruto wheeled away from the spirit and tried to run from the increasingly eerie man, but this time the shadow wasn't going to let him get away this time; the dark presence grabbed him by the back of his collar and held him up against a nearby building. "Please, just listen to me …"

Naruto didn't give much of a response to the request as he was desperately struggling to extricate himself from the man's icy steel grip. He braced himself against the wall and sent a strong kick vainly to make the man let go. "What do you want from me? I don't have anything you want!" The blond haired boy was panicking now; this thing was strong and he couldn't even touch him.

With his back against the wall the shadow had the best opportunity to examine his captive's eyes. The shadow was sad to see the panic and fear that clouded the boy's usual happiness.

The shinobi tried to calm down when he realized that the iron grip was not going to weaken by normal measures, but the stranger's close proximity wouldn't allow him to relax. Naruto's breath was still strained and his heartbeat was racing erratically. He made eye contact with the mysterious man as he shakily asked, "What are you?"

Reviews are deeply appreciated, I promise to try and get the next chapter up within a week!! Updated 03/08/10


	4. Chapter 4

Alright, I know that it has been a while since I have updated, and I apologize for this, but I had to give a speech in my Language Arts Class and apparently preparing a speech gives me extreme writer's block. But the good news is that I will probably give a longer chapter in a week or so, so enjoy. I do not own Naruto!!

Naruto's breathing was coming in sharp, quick paced gasps. The strange man held him by his collar with his back held up against the building behind him. The young shinobi was still struggling, but it was only half-hearted. The stranger was looking into his captive's eyes as if trying to decode the thoughts behind them. Naruto eventually stopped struggling, tired from fighting.

He hung his head down, breaking the eye contact that had been making him increasingly uncomfortable. The young shinobi tried to calm his racing blood, which was currently making a roaring sound in his eardrums. Try as he might though, the rest of his body wouldn't relax because of the excess of adrenaline that was coursing through his veins. The man standing in front of was deathly silent, appearing unsure of what to say.

The bright haired boy stares at the ground below him as he concentrates on evening out his breathing and avoids the piercing gaze that he knows is boring into his skull. Naruto eventually achieves to relax his breath to a slower, smooth rhythm, but his heart and blood were still rushing. The frustrating silence continued for a few minutes with no end in sight, and Naruto was starting to become agitated. The shinobi collected his courage and jerked his head up to stare down the strange man. Clearing the lump in his throat of the lump that had been blocking he started, "Well?"

The man looked at him in confusion but still remained mute. This progressed the boy's irritation and replied, " Are you kidding me? You obviously had something to freaking say ten minutes ago, and you've apparently made sure I'm not going anywhere right now so come out with it." The stranger continued to stare at Naruto, but he looked to be thinking.

Naruto continued to stare back at the eerily similar blue eyes as if to pry a response from the silent person. Suddenly the man's eyes dart to the right down the street at the sound of a cat knocking over a garbage bin.

As the man turns back, he sighs and takes another look at the blond youth in front of him. The stranger's eyes look Naruto up and down as if analyzing him. The man mutters so quietly that Naruto could barely make out the syllables passing from the man's lips, " how long have I been dead…"

Naruto snarled in aggravation attracting the man's attention once again, " If you're not going say what you thought was so important, can you at least put me down? My jacket collar is beginning to chafe." The man frowned and looked off somewhere with a guilty glance and gently lowered Naruto to his feet but kept a firm grip on the collar.

" You won't listen to me if I let you go completely," the man answered in a strained casual tone, " I just need you to listen." "And about the question you asked earlier; did you mean to ask who I am? Or what I am?"

Naruto thought for a second, he was unsure if he would get both questions answered, so he decided to go for the more identifying one, " You mean to tell me, that you actually have a name?"

The stranger nodded his head in response. " If you really want to know what my name at least used to be," he said as he clacked his tongue once, " I was called Namikaze Minato, but no one has called me that in a long time." The man continued to stare into Naruto's eyes to look for a response. "Or at least, I think it's been a long time…"

Naruto racked his brain, but the name had no more than a familiar echoing ring to it. He was about to ask another question when he felt another surge of adrenaline from a noise down the road; he looked down in that direction with Minato this time to see what the commotion was. It was nothing more than a civilian emptying their trash into its container, but an idea dawned on Naruto. Minato was temporarily distracted and his grip had loosened slightly.

The blond shinobi in took a deep breath and gave one last, hard, jerk and successfully removed himself from the larger man's hold. Naruto nearly fell to the ground from the force he had used to extricate himself from Minato's grip, but manages to retain his balance. He doesn't look back to see if Minato was chasing after him; he didn't look back even when he heard Minato give a hushed exclaim, "Naruto! Please! I just want to talk to you!"

Naruto could feel the man following him, and put on another burst of speed; the streets of Konoha were currently deserted. The boy had no true destination in mind; he obviously couldn't go back to his apartment, and just continued in random directions until he reached the roof of the academy. He didn't sense Minato following him anymore, and Naruto knew he needed to stop or he would be caught again. Naruto walked over to the shadowy edge of the building that was covered by an overhang from the roof entrance. The moon was out in full, casting it's dull rays to cast more shadows on the village. With his back against the building, Naruto had a full view of the Hokage monument.

Naruto reviewed the faces that were carved into it one at a time; the first and second Hokages looked the same as always, Naruto knew only a couple of facts from his academy days, and even those bits of info were probably just guesses from the past. When he got to the third face on the cliff he had a moment of nostalgia from being a small child. He passed to the fourth face on the monument; yet again, he knew facts that he had gathered from the academy, and bits from Jiraiya, but never a true personality to the Yondaime. Lastly, he looked at the fifth face of the current hokage. He always thought the face never truly reflected the personality of Tsunade, it showed her fiery temper just as much as it did her true age.

Naruto's mussing was interrupted when Minato dropped down on roof several yards from the spot Naruto was sitting. The man looked at the boy who was now nervously looking at him. As Minato was standing in the moonlight, his skin was slightly glowing like the gigantic cliff face. A thought suddenly dawned on Naruto; he looked back up at the stone faces above, then he turned his attention back to the man in front of him.

Minato suddenly realized what Naruto was doing and felt the boy's muscles clench when the realization hit him. The moon became completely uncovered by the sheer patches of clouds that covered it, and part of Naruto's face was illuminated with the same glow Minato was.

Naruto could feel his mouth move, but no syllables passed thru his collapsed voice box. Minato cautiously moved toward the shocked shinobi with slow steps. "Naruto …" The blond shinobi had his blood roaring in his ears and adrenaline coursing thru his body again; he wanted to run again, he wanted to get away before this spirit caught him again. But, as Naruto soon realized, his body was almost completely paralyzed.

Minato was now only a couple of feet from Naruto; his face was covered in shadow with his eyes blazing his concern and worry. The darkened man stopped about a foot from Naruto and looked down at the shaking shinobi. The man noticed that Naruto's lips were moving and crouched down to see if he could hear the chocked words.

Naruto followed the expressive eyes that came down to his level. His breath was choking form the soundless words he was trying to form. Minato strained his hearing and managed to catch several words that made his muscles freeze, " Y-Yondaime-sama …"

For some reason, I'm not really happy with this chapter. Maybe I just need to get back into the swing of things. Please review and tell me how I could improve my work.

Update: 03/08/10


	5. Chapter 5

**I do not own Naruto!**Hi; another update for the story. Ummmm, yeah; I'm running out of things to say in this thing. Enjoy!!

The radiating glow of the moon created shadows across Konoha, and illuminated open areas with a dim light. Naruto had his back pressed up against a wall as the powerful, solid man sat crouched in front of him, his skin glowing like alabaster rock, and trying to reach the boy who appeared to be in shock. Naruto felt his words catch in the back of his throat and few managed to come out in recognizable syllables.

"H-h-how? It's n' possible," the young shinobi whispered in an uneven tone, "you're d-dead, this isn't real."

"Naruto, I'm not here to here to hurt you," Minato said trying to soothe the extremely tense shinobi. Naruto didn't reply, but the fear reflected in his expressive eyes. The young man felt as if time had slowed down as fast as his mind and blood were racing, along with the adrenaline raging inside him. Naruto tried his best to lean slightly away from Minato, probably wishing that this was just a continuation of his nightmares and that he would wakeup any second now. The older shinobi kept deathly still, waiting for Naruto to calm down; unfortunately, said shinobi had no plans of relaxing.

Naruto darted his vision around to find an opening, he spotted several but his chances were still pretty slim. He leapt with as much force he could muster and felt Minato's fingertips brush against his arm as he tried to stop him. The blond shinobi felt himself drawn to the other side of Konoha and his senses tingled from their sharpened edges as he strained himself to know of everything surrounding him.

He glanced at the lightened eastern horizon as the sun started banishing the moon's hold over the land. Naruto realized that he must have been out for hours for daybreak to be approaching. The rhythmic running allowed Naruto to sink into his thoughts. This was supposed to be the fourth hokage, the man that was supposed to defend his village. As Naruto brooded, thoughts occurred to him that had never before existed in his conscious.

_This is the man that sealed my fate, the one that saved the village and left me to face the consequences, the one that caused me to be labeled a monster …what the hell am I doing? This bastard messed up half of my lifetime, and now I'm running from him like a frightened child …_Naruto stopped dead in his tracks …_ That son of a bitch has been plaguing me for days now, and I'm playing a stupid game of hide and go seek!_

It was then that Naruto realized where he had ended up, in the team seven training grounds. The blond haired shinobi stood perfectly still, he knew he wouldn't have to wait long, and watched the quickly lightening sky burst into vivid colors of pinks, reds, and oranges.

Several minutes later, Minato dropped down relieved that Naruto had stopped, but worried for the same reason. The younger shinobi slowly turned, in an almost dramatic manner, to face the confused man behind him.

Naruto's blue eyes blazed back at the man with a mixture of hatred and fury, the fierceness directed at him made Minato take a step back. The older shinobi felt his mouth press into a thin line; this was getting more and more complicated. Minato put both of his hands up trying not to look like a threat. Naruto walked stiffly right up to Minato and went to stare straight into his eyes. Minato felt a stab of pain reach his heart, up close he could also see a depth of pain in Naruto's eyes as well.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You left for seventeen freaking years, and then you show up saying you just want to talk! When you died, I was condemned to my own personal circle of hell! As a child, I was beaten, scorned, and rejected more times then I like to remember! You said you just wanted to talk? Fine! I talked to you, you bastard! Now leave me alone!"

Minato heard Naruto's angry words echo in the still morning. Still looking into the familiar blue eyes, Minato opens his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a sharp blow to the gut. "If you really are the yondaime, prove it, or leave me alone already!"

Naruto redrew his fist, and looked angrily at the man who was still glowing in the morning sunshine. Minato stood up straight again just as Naruto was about to hit him again and grabbed the boy's wrist. Not even bothering to break the stronger man's grip again, he withdrew his other fist to strike another blow but met Minato's palm that closed around his hand.

The sun was starting to reach above the extended horizon and the surrounding atmosphere was becoming lighter and lighter as more tense moments passed between the two blonds. With Naruto struggling to harm the other man, and said man trying to restrain the struggling young shinobi.

Eventually, Naruto landed another good blow with a kick to the abdomen again, and was dropped to the ground where he quickly stumbled back. When he got the chance to look up he nearly fell over again, Minato had suddenly disappeared, and in his place were shimmering streams of sunshine. Naruto stood to his feet looking around for the man that claimed he was a hokage, but he never reappeared, almost as if he had dissolved in the sunlight.

Naruto quickly realized, as the adrenaline wore off, that not sleeping well for several nights, and straining his body all through the last night, he was worn, tired and sore. He decided that skipping training, although the idea didn't appeal to him much, was probably the best thing to do. Naruto quickly leapt from roof to roof in the early dawn, gritting in pain all the while, until he reached his apartment door.

He took in a deep breath, unlocked the door and entered to see that nothing was there. With his mind drifting off from weariness, he, almost unconsciously, drifted into his room and collapsed on the bed.

A strange blur of color swam in an undefined swirl in front of Naruto's vision. Confused, he watched as the mixed shades separated and formed into the ceiling of his bedroom. He quickly closed his eyes again from the dizziness that hit him with a wave of nausea. Naruto kept his eyes closed, trying to remember the insane dream, more like a nightmare, which had made him so stressed.

Naruto could have sworn that the dream was real: the sensations, the fact that he didn't even remember falling asleep, the emotions Minato had displayed, it all seemed like reality. Carefully, the young shinobi opened his eyes; the dizzying sensation was still there, but he could deal with it. Naruto slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Unsteadily, he shuffled towards his kitchen and heated up some water for ramen.

As the water was cooking the noodles in the cup, he laid his forehead down on the table and groaned. Naruto realized that from a young age that he didn't get sick very often, but when he did, it was usually pretty bad and lasted for days. His week was just getting better and better as it went on. He swallowed down the ramen as quickly as he could when it was done, it surprised him how ravenous he was, how long had he been out?

Naruto finished chucking his trash in the garbage and turned around to freeze in his place. On the floor across the room was the book he had been reading, in the exact same place Minato had thrown it. Shaking, Naruto walked quietly to the spot and leaned down to pick it up. With the book in his hand Naruto felt his breath hitch as a horribly familiar sensation rose in his throat.

The book fell to the floor with a smack as Naruto rushed to the bathroom as the ramen that he had enjoyed minutes earlier came back up in a vile substance. Naruto tried unsuccessfully to get the bitter taste out of his mouth but he was yet again throwing the burning acid from his stomach into the porcelain fixture.

His stomach was empty but the noxious smell left him with an ill feeling. He pushes himself to his feet and to the sink. He held his mouth to the faucet, ridding him of the disgusting bile. It was then that he felt the worried blue eyes watching him. Naruto sighed and placed his warm skin to cool on the sink, he really didn't need to deal with this right now.

Ignoring the increasingly solid man that was standing five feet behind him, he shuffled out of the room to his bed flicking off the light. Naruto rolled onto his bed with his back to the bathroom door. It was night out, he determined, based on the lack of small gaps of light that flickered through the horizontal blinds. He heard he soft footfalls cross his bedroom floor and stop at the edge of his bed. Naruto shied away from the hand that reached towards him.

_Can't you just leave me alone! I'm really not in the freaking mood for this crap now dammit! Even when I get better, I'll have to take shit from someone because I didn't show up for missions, Tsunade will be pissed that I didn't come to the hospital when I was sick, uuuggghhhhh!!!!_

He felt a slight presence of weight press down on the edge of his bed that told him Minato had sat down next to him. Naruto felt the approaching aches that always associated his rare period of illness. It was because of this increasingly uncomfortable feeling, that Naruto, against his better judgment, let himself fall into an uneasy sleep.

Naruto lurched, sitting up drenched in sweat and shivering from an unknown draft, and quickly leaned over the side of the bed to vomit whatever could possibly be left inside him. He clung to the side of the bed, more exhausted then before he had fallen asleep, concentrating on breathing steadily. A gentle hand rested on his shoulder and tried to lay him back down on the bed, but Naruto stubbornly refused to be coraprative.

The hand relented, but still lay on his shoulder. Naruto groaned as another wave of the ill feeling washed over again and he dry heaved several times. Again, the hand pulled on his left shoulder to lie down, and Naruto, in his tired and weakened state, complied with its will. With his head back on the pillow the hand pressed against his forehead momentarily and Naruto shivered because it felt so cold.

Then, somebody stood from the bed and softly walked off somewhere leaving Naruto alone; they quietly approached again, but Naruto didn't bother opening his eyes. Minato sat back down on the bed and put a hand behind Naruto's neck and Naruto shivered again. The hand held a small cup to Naruto's mouth; Naruto smelled a medical scent coming from the kitchen cup and turned away from the bitter fluid.

After a few minutes Naruto felt exceptionally cold and shivering even though he knew he was under more blankets then he usually was. The hand felt his forehead again; it felt like ice against Naruto's skin and Naruto opened his eyes for a bleary vision of a man with yellow hair. Minato was standing over with worry etched into his eyes and face; Naruto struggled to push him away, his body felt so weak.

He managed to push himself off the bed and stand up momentarily but threw out a hand to catch himself on the bedside table. Minato took a step forward to help, but stopped when he saw the look in Naruto's eyes, "Don't. Touch. Me."

"Naruto," he said in a pleading voice, " you're sick; please, just relax."

"Here's a question for you, why the hell do you care?" Naruto said in a hoarse voice. The look of confusion appeared on the older shinobi's face again and Naruto felt his temper rising. "Hah, you've got to be joking me; you didn't really seem to care seventeen years ago, so if you have a problem with the first half dozen times I've asked the question: Why the hell do you care?"

Naruto felt his body shaking, caused by a mixture of fever and fury. Minato opened his mouth to answer, but Naruto's knees suddenly buckled and he collapsed to the floor. Naruto watched Minato carefully approach him and cautiously pick him up. Naruto shivered again, but had no strength left to fight off the action. Minato then slowly laid Naruto back down on the bed and covered him up with the blankets. Naruto felt his weakness catch up on him again and his eyes closed. Minato sat down on the edge of the bed again and picked up the medicine. With a little more force than before, he got Naruto to swallow the horrible tasting medicine and settled him down on the bed.

For the last time before dawn, when Naruto was nearly asleep he could have sworn that Minato had murmured, _"What have they done to you …?"_

Update:03/08/10


	6. Chapter 6

Alright alright, I know some of you want to kill me. I know it's been almost a month since I've updated this, but my schoolwork has been almost taking over my life recently and I haven't been able to work on this chapter very often. Just saying that I hope you like this chapter and please review!  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Naruto gasped as he again lurched from his bed from another feverish dream that often plagued him during his current illness. The dizziness from rising so quickly forced him to focus on his breathing. With a gentle, and slightly forceful, pressure from Minato, he was laid back down again, but Naruto shrugged a way from the man's touch.

"I told you not to touch me," he said hoarsely, "why can't you just leave me alone?"

Minato didn't reply; he always kept silent when Naruto started voicing his displeasure at Minato still being there, especially when he had made his opinion quite clear. The younger blond instantly tried to get up again, but the older shinobi held him down with one hand on his right shoulder. "Get your hand off me," Naruto said in the most threatening way he possibly could.

Minato sighed again, he didn't know what was worse: Naruto ignoring him, Naruto being frightened to death of him, or, the most recent mood, Naruto being pissed at him. Naruto continued to struggle against the stronger man. After several moments of tense atmosphere, the younger blond eventually stopped fighting the losing battle and stared broodingly at the ceiling. _"Well,"_ he thought irritably, _"least I have enough strength to fight him without being exhausted."_

The two shinobi sat in silence as flecks of light from the approaching dawn sparkled across the ceiling. Several more minutes passed before Naruto stopped looking at the ceiling above him and checked to see if the annoying man was gone. When he saw that he was once, for at least a little while anyway, alone in his apartment. The blond shinobi grimaced as he heard his stomach growl; he found out several days ago that ramen was not going to stay down while he was sick, and he had to eat whatever produce Kakashi had forced on him earlier that week.

Naruto sat up stiffly, flexing the muscles that were slightly less achy then the rest of is body, and looked at his bedside table to see an apple that had not been there a few minutes ago. He looked away from the fruit, but his stomach growled again in protest, so he grabbed the red skinned apple and bit into it with a crunch. After successfully swallowing down the last edible bite, he tossed the core into the rubbish bin across the room, and settled down thinking of some way to pass the agonizingly slow time that was chipping away at his sanity.

He looked around his room and discovered his holster was where he had dropped it when he had come home. He turned to the side of the bed and placed his feet on the floor. Naruto cautiously put pressure on his feet and stood up wobbly. He walked steadily across the wood floor and picked up the holster. He slid out a kunai and swirled it around on his finger before gripping it firmly in his hand.

He looked around the apartment room another time before he quickly showered, put on fresh clothes, adjusted his holster to his thigh, and placed his weapons pouch on his waist. Lastly, he stopped at the mirror and placed his headband on before heading towards the door and had his hand on the doorknob. He twisted it each way and jerked on it, but to his frustration, refused to budge.

With a glance to his left, Naruto noticed a piece of paper on the counter several feet from him. He took up the slip to read the slightly legible scrawl that splayed across the paper.

Minato:

I had a feeling that you would attempt to get back to your training before you were fully well, so the seal should prevent you from doing anything stupid while I'm gone. By the way, you really should eat more of the fruit in your apartment; somebody apparently thinks that you need to eat more of it. Try and get some rest.

Naruto scowled, _"Dam Him! I'm not a child! I've been living on my own since I was four; I think I'm freaking old enough to take care of myself!"_Naruto turned around and sourly headed back to his bedroom; not to be defeated, Naruto headed towards the window that was next to his bed. He flicked the lock over and attempted to slide it open, only to have another slip of white fall onto the bedcovers.

I may not have been the brightest of my academy class, but I was Hokage, and young once; I know all the tricks in the book. Rest up, sleep, read, whatever you want; but I assure you, you aren't going anywhere. 

He crumpled the paper in his hand and growled. He threw himself down on the bed with an agitated grunt, and stared broodingly up at the ceiling again. He took off his gear and gently placed them on the floor near the foot of the bed. He tried to fall asleep again, but to add to his agitation, his mind wouldn't shut up as it replayed that single night where Minato had finally confronted him.

Naruto locked his jaw tightly as he grew more infuriated at how he acted, like a small child afraid of the dark and the monster under the bed. He had cowered on the rooftop like a cornered rabbit, and now this man was treating him like a captive criminal in his own home.

"Penny for your thoughts?" a smooth voice said next to him. The younger blond shinobi ignored him. Minato felt the boy's approaching fury and stayed silent, waiting for Naruto to calm down. Minato continued to look down at the boy, who in turn was ignoring his presence, who brewed in his own emotions.

"Don't you have anything better to do then annoy me?" Naruto asked in an irritable tone. Minato felt a pang of hurt cross his face, but it passes and remains silent. Not receiving a reply to his rhetorical question, Naruto scowled. He sat up from the bed and walked into the kitchen. Sitting down in the only chair, Naruto picked up another apple and started munching it; to his disgust, several spots of the apple were bruised and mushy.

Minato followed him into the cramped kitchen and continued to watch the boy. Unexpectedly, Naruto asked another question that formed from his mounting fury, "How long are you going to stay in my apartment?" Minato shrugged. The blond continued to scowl, "How long are you going to keep me a prisoner in my home?"

Minato raised an eyebrow, "Keeping you from hurting yourself isn't making you a prisoner."

A loud crack snapped through the kitchen when Naruto slammed his fist down on the poor table's surface. "Who the hell do you think you are!? I'm not a small little boy who can't take care himself! I'm a shinobi dammit! I don't need you, or anyone else for that matter, treating me like a helpless child!"

Minato finally broke his silence, "I never said that you were a child."

"Oh please," the shinobi said coming from around the table to stand right in front of the taller shinobi, "you lock me inside my own apartment, and tell me how to take care of myself. I've gone my whole life without a parent nagging me, I sure as hell don't need one now."

Minato furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"

That. Was. It. "Alright, since apparently you have absolutely no clue as to why I've been alone most of my life; I'll tell you! You're the hero just about everyone in this village looks up to, because you 'defeated' the demon fox! Then you died in a flame of glory, and I was left to take every piece of shit, that you left behind! I'd be dead right now if the old man hadn't done anything!" Naruto was shaking in fury at this point and felt far from finished. "Do you have any freaking clue, what my life has been like!? Do you have any freaking idea, of how it feels to be treated like dirt for something I was never given an option for!? Do you even have the ability, to fathom the pain that comes from being shunned to the side, hated, and despised by everyone!?"

Naruto was now within inches of the older man who looked to be in shock at the words that were pouring angrily out of the younger shinobi's mouth. "Or how it shatters your soul, when everybody glares at you, wishing you'd drop dead!? Or to be called out to in the streets: 'demon-brat!', 'monster!'!? Or to watch, as one by one, the few people that actually cared if you lived or died, in danger because you simply exist!?"

Naruto took another step forward, and with surprising strength, grabbed Minato by the collar of his flak jacket and slammed him against the wall behind him. "If you're really the all knowing Hokage you claim to be, let me ask you this," Naruto said in a venomously quiet voice, "did you really believe that the village was going to treat me like a hero?"

Minato saw a glimmer of an honest question in Naruto's eyes. Swallowing away the dryness in his throat before choosing his words carefully, " I made it my last wish for the people of Konoha, to treat you as a true hero. I did it because I was Hokage, and it was my duty to die if it was necessary. I wasn't supposed to be the hero of that night. I had no idea, that the people would not uphold my request" Minato's voice rung in a sad tone, and reflected a loss of words as to what say next, but continued anyway. "But surely someone must have took you in?"

Naruto glared, "Is that a joke? Haven't you wondered why at age sixteen I'm living by myself!? I lived in an orphanage until they threw me out at age four! The old man was barely able to get me this apartment because of the stupid fox you sealed inside me!" The blond had taken up shouting again. " How everything I bought was over priced and the worst quality they could possibly sell me! How almost ever teacher I had in the academy looked down on me for reasons I didn't know! And if you're telling me that I'm supposed to be the hero, you're full of shit!

Naruto took in a deep breath as some of the anger washed out of him. He cleared his throat and continued, "Everything I have now. I had to work really hard for. My friends. My teachers. My redemption. Telling me that it wasn't supposed to be that hard. Do you really think that that's going to solve anything?" The blond shook his head and set Minato back down on the floor.

"There's no reason for you to apologize. Even if I could find something, an apology wouldn't fix, take-back, or change the past anymore then I could before you showed up."

Minato opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Naruto cut him off. "Get. Out," he said in a dangerously exasperated tone, "I don't care where the hell you go. Get lost. I'm done." When the younger blond turned to leave the room, a gentle grip grabbed his shoulder. It would have been easy to get out of, but Naruto had mainly turned around when he thought he couldn't keep a straight face anymore.

The young shinobi twisted his neck to look at the quiet man, what he saw confused him. The look in those deep eyes, the blond saw, reflected a meaning he had seen, but never received himself. The look a father usually gives to their child as if to assure them that the sun would indeed rise again the next morning, no matter how bad the previous day had been; as if to give apology for something that could never be said in words.

After a pregnant moment, the blond quickly jerked away. Naruto turned around and went back into the dark bedroom, slamming the door behind him without another word, leaving Minato alone to digest the echoing words through the night.

Naruto awoke in his bed to the bright morning sun, not having realized that he had fallen asleep. He rolled over and tried to reset the alarm until he realized that what had awoken him was a knock on the window. His sliver haired sensei was on the ledge outside the window. When the blond's eyes where completely open, Kakashi said in a superficial tone, "Hey, Tsunade-sama wants you in her office stat." Confused, Naruto saw that Kakashi's face- at least the part he could see- looked grim.

As he sat up from the bed, last night's events replayed themselves; upon reviewing them, he felt rather guilty. All the built-up anger and frustration had just come pouring out.  
_'Did I really mean all of it?,"_Naruto thought to himself for a minute. '_I guess I did mean it, but maybe I was a little hard on him.'_Naruto got himself ready. When he was fully prepared and dressed he went into the kitchen and picked up his key. This time, he knew he was completely alone in his apartment. There was nothing watching him from the corners and the apartment felt eerily empty.

The blond took in another deep sigh. It felt like another painfully long day.

Minato sat on the rooftop looking down at the younger blond that was walking the street below him. Though Naruto had told him to leave, he couldn't bring himself to leave the boy completely alone.

He was unsure if anyone else could see him, but he kept a henge over his face and hair to be on the safe side. He quietly jumped from building to building, following Naruto through the village.

Naruto arrived at the large red building, which had become slightly faded from years of aging in the sun, wind, and other elements. He watched the boy climbing the curved staircase; Naruto stops about halfway up to speak to a shorter brown haired boy and two of his friends that he couldn't name. From a distance, Minato couldn't hear the conversation but he the younger child must have said something amusing for he could see Naruto laughing pretty hard.

While looking at Naruto's features , he realized that this was the lightest he had seen the blond haired boy's face. After a few minutes Naruto waved them off and continued up the staircase.

Minato circled around, and to his surprise, saw Gamabunta and another good-sized toad outside the hokage office windows. Did Jiraiya decide to make an appearance? He slowly crept closer to the window; when nobody protested his appearance, he relaxed to listen to the meeting.

As his hearing tuned in, the first words he heard chilled him to his core. "…Little Jiraiya died in battle." Silence prevailed for a few minutes, and the tension was thick enough that it reached Minato on top of the building like radiations of heat from a fire.

Naruto's amazingly soft voice reached up as well, "Wh… What're you talking about…?" The unidentified voice continued retelling Jiraiya's death and the icy spike drove deeper into his core. Tsunade said something in answer to another of Naruto's questions, but it was overshadowed by the brash response.

"Why did you let him go!?" "How could you send him into danger all alone …? You know how he is!" In a familiar tone, someone tried to stop him, and calm him. After several moments of aggravating silence he heard Naruto swear.

A female voice called out, "Naruto! Where are you going!?"

"If that Pervy Sage had been made the 5th hokage … then Tsunade wouldn't have forced him to do this… I know it…" The female voice called his name out but no reply came. Tsunade said to let him go. Minato stopped listening in and followed the brooding teenager through the streets once again. Naruto is stopped by a cheerful brunette shinobi, after some quick chatter, the blond brushes him off and continues on. Naruto walked around the outskirts for hours; the sun eventually set and the streetlamps all flickered on and Naruto collapsed on a park bench.

Naruto had been stoic the most of the day, and even as he sat there he showed no emotion. Minato calmly approached the boy from behind and saw that there were tears darkening the soil between his feet.

The brunette shinobi from before came up to him and sat down on the bench. "… I heard about Jiraiya." No response. Then finally, Naruto spoke.

"I wanted … him to always watch me… I wanted him to see me become Hokage… All he ever saw was me being totally uncool… and I…"

"Jiraiya always praised you. He always spoke of you proudly, as if you were his own grandson." Naruto looked up with watery eyes. "He believed you would take his place. He never doubted you would become a great Hokage," Iruka said in a caring tone. "He was always watching you… Even now, he still is, somewhere. He wouldn't praise you just to try and cheer you when you're down. So…," the man paused for a moment. "You can't stay depressed forever! Just be the same old you he could always praise."

A few moments pass, "Thanks… Iruka."

Iruka eventually left Naruto when he was satisfied and Naruto leaned against the back of the bench and took another repetitive sigh. "I know you're behind me." Taking a quick breath Minato circled around the bench and sat down, ready to stand up is Naruto disapproved. But Naruto didn't react, and the two blonds sat side by side in peaceful quiet.

"He was your teacher too, wasn't he?" Minato was unsure if he was meant to respond and Naruto continued anyway as if it was a statement. "He only told me a little bit about you. Whenever he did… it's like he was drowning in his own nostalgia. I guess … I wanted him to think of me… they way he was so proud of you… It only made me want to try harder. All my life I've wanted to be Hokage. To protect this village. One time, someone asked me why I wanted to protect the place that had been my personal hell for so long… At first, I couldn't answer that question; until it finally dawned on me. The people who believed in me. The people who gave me a chance. They were worth protecting. I understand why you did what you did the night the Kyubii attacked. You wanted to protect Konoha…" Naruto took in another sigh and ran his fingers through his hair.

"What he said- Iruka wasn't it- was true. Jiraiya wasn't what one would call emotional person. He cut to the chase whenever possible, and flattering people to make them feel better wasn't in his nature. I remember how'd he go off somewhere to spy on girls with really skimpy bikinis. I'd always be the one to drag him back from his womanizing drunk, irritated, and reeking of sex… and the funny thing is… I wouldn't have traded it for anything in the world."

Naruto looked over at him as if he sympathized with every word the older man said. Both sighed at the same time; each remembering their similar experiences with the old pervert. Minato smiled at the peaceful moment. When Naruto had been quiet for a longer than normal time, he looked over to see that the younger blond had fallen asleep.

It's a little longer than usual, so I apologize again for the slow update. Now *gets down on knees* please review! *makes adorable puppy eyes* Please. You know you want to push that beautiful button! Updated: 03/08/10


	7. Chapter 7

Howdy y'all, I made a personal goal for myself to update sooner than I did last time, and once I started on this chapter it just seemed to have flowed. I wrote this over two days and I wanted to make it longer, but the place where I stopped it just seemed to fit. Well, Enjoy!!  
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!!!

Minato closed the door behind him softly, making sure not to jolt the young blond that he was carrying. He slid off both of their sandals before he continued on into the small bedroom; the streetlights illuminated the wall opposite the window and cast charcoal shadows against the other areas of the room, leaving disorienting, insensible swirls of patterns to paint the room.

He released the henge that cloaked him and set Naruto down on the bed and pulled the covers gently over him, being careful not to wake him from his peaceful slumber. The man looked down at the sleeping boy, he seemed so peaceful: none of the frustration around Naruto's eyes or the tension around his mouth. He appeared so much older when he was awake, an easy difference of ten years at least.

Naruto's face suddenly contorted in pain, and a small pathetic whimper passed his lips. Minato had a small frown cross his face. He placed a soothing hand on the boy's head to make sure he wasn't having another feverish dream, but Naruto didn't appear to be ill as he was before.

Withdrawing his hand slowly, he brushed the hair covering Naruto's face out of his eyes. _"My son…"_ Minato shivered slightly at the word, he longed to claim Naruto as his son,_ "but what new hell would I bring down upon him? He went ballistic when he figured out I was a Hokage… what would he do if he discovered I was his father…"_

He sat on the edge of the bed a few more minutes, the fighting inside him going around and around in circles. Minato stared down at his hands, which where intertwined together, but he wasn't really looking at them.

Minato stood on his own two feet and went to the kitchen, he took to pacing in a random patter across the floor, unsure of what to do with himself while his thoughts raged in his mind._ "Should I leave… No. No, I don't think I have the power to leave him again…I want to help him…Last night, just felt so natural. He opened up to me…"_ The shinobi placed both hands on the small table before running his right hand through his hair.

He gave a deep sigh as his body felt older from its fatigue. He held up his palm to his face; he still didn't know why he was here, why he was back.

"I still don't know if I'm real. If I'm flesh and blood, a spirit, or maybe even something in-between…Ughhhh, what happens if Naruto starts asking questions even I don't have the answers to? 'Sorry kid, I don't know myself…' Things are strained enough as it is…I'm just now starting to gain his trust. Another explosion would shatter any faith he had in me. It'd be like losing him all over again."

Minato wanted to slam his forehead down on the table in frustration, so many questions and problems without any answers was driving him insane. He glanced behind him at the door to the room where his son was sleeping.

He circled around the table and sat in the one lone chair, resting his head on the surface and covering it with his arms. After another sigh, he had been sighing a lot lately, and closed his eyes.

_The double doors burst open before me to reveal a scene of mass confusion and panic. Shinobi who had been brought back, harshly wounded and mutilated by the demon, where lying in the corridors of the hospital; they were all waiting hopefully for the treatment from medical staff who were running around checking everyone they could, before running off into the other sections of the hospital, and running by the corpses that were still warm from their spilled blood upon their skin._

_I already had a destination in mind and tried to block out the feelings of pain and anguish. I rush down one of the less packed hallways and arrive in the ward I was looking for. There was no nurse at the desk, and it frustrated me that I finding the room I wanted would just be that much harder._

_My gut tells me a direction and I follow it, praying that this wouldn't be the one time my instincts betrayed me. I reach the last door at the end of the corridor and open the door. Lying in the lonely was the person I had been looking for. My world seemed to have slowed down from the mass chaos that surrounded me, because I couldn't make my steps take a pace any faster than a slow walk._

_At the edge of the starched pale linen, I brush damp strains of hair softly from her face and she opens her eyes weakly to look up at me. I sorrowfully noticed that her eyes lacked the luster and brightness that usually shimmered from their depths. I grasp her hand, it frightened me that it was so cold, and I squeeze tightly. She moves her head to look down at the bundle in her arms that suddenly squirmed and whimpered._

_Minato leaned closer and looked at the innocent face that peaked out from under the thin blanket. "He's beautiful isn't he?" I look back up to the child's mother and I kiss her forehead._

"_He's absolutely perfect." My words were barely above a whisper, and yet even I could hear them; the huge mob of confusion must not have reached my ears, for I heard no other sounds. I sit on the edge of the bed; afraid that any sudden movement would break the once strong woman I fell in love with. I put an arm delicately around her and I pull her close to me to savor the moment I knew would all to well end before I wanted it to.  
"You know I would do anything you ask," and I kiss her forehead again. Then, as if Naruto weighed several tons, she hands him to me and makes sure my arm sufficiently supports his head._

"_He's going to look just like you when he grows up, he already has the blond hair." Kushina smiled as our son put his thumb into his mouth and started to suck. I kept holding her hand as I took my left hand and played with the baby's downy hair._

_She closed her eyes and I noticed that her breathing was ragged and strangled. I laid her back down on the bed and she looked up to me with another weak smile. "You always did look handsome in your uniform."_

_I forced a smile on my face, "I seem to remember you saying that about nine months ago too, I think that's how he came along." Kushina coughed and I felt the smile flicker away from me. She must have noticed the sadness in my eyes._

"_Minato-kun, I love you; through thick n' thin, we've stayed together. Through fire and flames I've stood by your side, and you by mine. Please take care of Naruto; he's one of the most precious things to me, and even if I've seen him for a few hours, I love him with all my heart." I cup her cheek with my hand, the chill from her skin tells me that time is running out, and I whisper into her ear._

_Kushina's hand caresses his face, watching him sleep soundly, and then reaches up to mine. I lower myself to meet her hand as she wipes away a tear that got passed my guard._

_She motions me closer and I oblige; she puts a freezing hand behind my neck and kisses me on the lips. I remain in this position for a moment, trying my best to memorize her familiar scent, a mixture of pine and mountain air. She breaks the kiss and settles back down on the hospital bed. She closes her eyes and I lean down one more time to speak to the woman I love. "I love you too." My lips barely centimeters from her ear, she smiles again at my words, and I kiss her forehead one last time._

_After a few more moments, her grip on my hand loosened slowly before going limp and her head shifting to the side. I brush the hair behind her ear and I stand up with tears sliding down my face. Naruto gurgled in my arms, completely unaware of the emotion surrounding him._

_I clutch him closer to me, unwilling to waste any time of the precious hours I knew I had left. I make sure I have him securely in my arms before I leap out of the window. I knew what I had to do, but I didn't relish it._

_The sounds of destruction echoed throughout Konoha, and the roaring from the demon only grew louder as I approached. I stopped on a high tree branch that overlooked the growing whirlwind of destruction Kyubii created in his path. I jumped into the air and charged my chakra into my palm to summon Gamabunta. The large, over-sized, titanic toad appeared beneath me, facing the Kyubii for what I knew would be my last battle._

_Naruto cried out from the sudden shift of movement and I quickly comfort him. The toad beneath him muttered to him in his deep baritone, "I hope you know what you're doing." I tell him, I've got a plan and describe it to him. "So I take that this is good-bye huh? Well; can't say that I didn't feel honored to fight by you side." I too say my good-byes to him, and he waits for the demon to get close enough for the plan to work._

_I unwind the fabric that covers my son's form and he cries when exposed to the harshly brisk October air. I try and keep him close to me to prevent him from becoming too cold, but the fickle wind thwarted my efforts. The blood around his navel is still fresh and I bite my own thumb releasing a new stream of my own blood._

_Keeping one eye on the demon in the distance, and one on Naruto, I paint the blood from my thumb around his naval into the swirling cryptic design that was supposed to save the village from that vile demon spawn._

_I stand up checking, rechecking the seal that had to be perfect to work. I cradle him, and try my best not to pace back and forth on the old toad's head; the old guy was stressed enough. I hear my son give another pitiful whimper for attention and I look down to see him opening his eyes. His bright irises have the same hue as mine and reflect the heavens above us._

_It was now, when I knew my life was now better measured in minutes then hours, that my emotions where peaking. I thought of the woman, whose life was lost, and the son I was holding, whose life I would miss. I'd never see him grow-up: his first words, his first steps… I realized that I would miss it all…_

_I hold Naruto closely to me, and the warmth settles him down. The sounds of destruction get louder as the stormy being approaches. For a moment, I am glad the Gamabunta doesn't try and make small talk; saying good-bye was bad enough as it was._

_The sounds of infantries' screams and shouts tell me that the eye of the storm was near and moving fast. I, out of agitating frustration, check the seal again and cuddle Naruto, who is in a blissful slumber._

_The moonlight sets the mood for the final stage of battle as the Kyubii smashes his way through the forests that were my home like how I would step through brush. Its fur was a bloody orange; the eyes as big as craters in the moon above, and radiated the animalistic hunger, rage, and furry it was unleashing on the innocent beings of the Earth._

_The demon's nine tails flare out behind it, creating more destruction as they sway above the trees, crashing every once in a while into the forests depths taking a sickening pleasure in admiring the destruction it formed._

_I swallow hard, readying myself as retreating troops flee back to the outer walls of Konoha, hoping that I would be the godlike hero they expected of me. My thoughts had shifted from what would happen in this world, to what would happen in the next. Or if there even was a next. Man had tried for decades to discover what happens to the human mind, or the spirit, when one's life force finally runs out._

_Would I see my Kushina again, or was I doomed to be in the bowels of hell for what I was about to do to my soul? They taught me many things in my career as a shinobi, but this was one lesson that they never could prepare you for. Sacrificing yourself._

_Every cell in body is literally screaming at me not to go against my natural instinct. My body wants me to run, but my honor…my duty…my promise to protect Konoha keeps me firmly planted to this spot on the toad's head to face the inevitable impeding death that was speeding towards me._

_I snap out of my thoughts to see that if my plan was going to work, I had to act soon. I glance down at Naruto, who is awake again and looking up at me with his innocent vision and gurgles at me while raising a tiny hand._

_I dangle my finger and he latches on, such a tight grip for a little guy. He'll make a great shinobi one day. I lean foreword and kiss his forehead, giving my final good-bye._

_Standing up straighter this time, I glare bravely at the demon, who has discovered me as a new snack, clearing away the lump in my throat and the not in my chest. I grip my son tightly as I count down the seconds until the demon is close enough to begin._

_Five… my hand moves almost of its own accord as it goes through the signs._

_Four… the demon is nearly here and half the signs are done._

_Three… the sings are almost done and I feel the shadow appearing behind me._

_Two… the sounds of destruction startle Naruto and he cries out._

_One… I make the last sign of the jutsu and scream in pain as the plan to save my village slowly drains my life away, sending me into the darkness._

Naruto reopened his eyes to see specks of light that were painted across the room and his bed sheets, unsure of what time of day it was since he had fallen asleep on a bench. Shifting around he realized that for a bench, the surface he was laying on felt overly soft for such a hard surface. Then he realized that he was in his own apartment again, alone from what he saw, and the clock lit up an annoyingly bright 8:30.

Staring up at the ceiling, Naruto debates if he should try and get something done today: he had a feeling that Kakashi wouldn't expect him for training today, and he honestly didn't feel like talking about Jiraiya's death again just yet.

Naruto covers his eyes with his hands and tries to block out the irritating light that had been the cause of his awakening. He rolled over with his back to the window, hoping the shadow created would allow his tired body to fall back in to a restful sleep.

He opens his eyes to see a glass of water on the side table. Naruto grabs the luke-warm glass and drinks the funny tasting water, odd flavoring via standing stagnant for a long time. He sets the glass on the table, where the condensation from previous glasses of water had made a marking ring on the side of the table.

Shoving himself into a sitting position, Naruto puts his feet gingerly on the cold morning floor. A noise from the doorway made him look up. "I see you're finally up; sleep well?" Minato waited to see how the blond would react, and received little of a response. Naruto nodded and stood on his own two feet, stretching the joints that had become stiff from being immobile from several hours of deep sleep.

The silence that continued after the question was awkward, as neither of the two shinobi knew exactly what to say next. Minato looked sadly at his son who, at the moment, was feeling the most from the uncomfortable quiet, tried his best not to stare at the man that created emotions inside him that had become more and more foreign to him.

Naruto stared at the wood grains in the floor, tracing the familiar lines repeatedly as he reviewed the last couple of days. In honesty, he felt like a bit of a jerk. With the confusing thoughts and feelings in their heads, both shinobi avoided each other's gaze, drowning in their own memories.

After several more minutes, a loud pop came form the kitchen, and both blonds turned to look at the solitary door. A voice, scratchy and crackling form use, came from the kitchen that both shinobi had heard before, but only Naruto knew whose voice it was.

Giving Minato a glance that told him to stay there, Naruto pushed the door open into the kitchen and slid it shut behind him. Minato heard Naruto discuss quietly with the person for a second, identifying them as the same person who had been in the Hokage's office yesterday.

Thinking through his thoughts, Minato missed a part of conversation, and tensed slightly from the silence that permeated through the door. The lack of sound was deafening to his ears as he strained to listen for the continuation of the conversation.

For a minute he thought that Naruto had left with the person, but then he realize that he hadn't heard the noisy lock click, or even the turning of a doorknob. Minato was tempted to circle around outside and see if he could look in on the conversation, but his logic force him against it.

The aged voice came through the door that made Minato freeze, "Yondaime-sama, I would like to talk to you as well."

What'd you think? The whole flash back/dream was originally going to be a one-shot, but I decided that it fit here pretty well (I love writing Minato). I find this kind of ironic actually, I mean for being my favorite character I sure treat him like crap a lot… Is it normal to feel sorry for one of your character in a fictional story? Oh well, I'll just tell my psychiatrist when I'm interviewed when they try and discover the reason I'm crazy….  
Now for the begging: I love all of those who take the time to give this fic reviews. Maybe I should start a wall of honor for those who review chapters. Please tell me what you think of this chapter: did you like the flash back, or is there anything else that could make the fic better?

Updated: 03/08/10


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto entered the room, trying to close the door to keep Minato from view. The young shinobi turned to glare with an irritated look at the intruder. He bit down gently on his tongue with his top teeth, another spurt of frustration building in his mouth that wanted to burst forth.

Wise eyes gazed analytically at him. The old toad sat in his kitchen with his usual wardrobe, sitting on the strange looking chair. What age the body showed, from such a petit and wrinkled frame, that was not seen in those eyes that held a blazing coal of strength and youthful endurance. The same kind of eyes Jiraiya had.

Swallowing his spiking anger, Naruto spoke first, "What are you doing here?" He tried to make the tone even, but the pitch at the end of his question cracked under the severe forced strain.

The toad continued to observe him. For several tense moments, the young blond squirmed slightly. Those eyes seemed to look beyond his physical form, seeing the complicated network of chakra streams under his flesh. Naruto wondered if shinobi amphibians had any superpowers like that.

"I was interested to see how you were coping. Our last encounter ended so abruptly and I saw your mournful distress," he said in kind grandfatherly voice.

The blond swallowed the uncomfortable rock in his throat, "Yeah well, I might have gone a little too far…" he left off quietly. Shaking his head, as if to chase off some annoying fly that was buzzing around his head, Naruto resumed his offensive stance, "While it's nice you came," he told in the strongest way he could, " you still haven't answered my question."

A sigh came from the suddenly tired sounding figure, "Yes, the reason for my rudely unannounced visit; and I must assure you I wouldn't have done so unless completely necessary in the most dire circumstances," Naruto moved around to be closer to the speaker.

The look he gave spoke the "get on with it" message and the toad received the unspoken words with a few senile mutters, " the young are all in such a hurry…" The bitter rant continued for a few seconds until the toad realized that Naruto could still hear him, where he quickly tried to regain his verbal footing.

"In short, my arrival has to do mainly with you and the future of Konoha." Every single one of his words were sober, each chosen with particular tact. The toad was stepping through a wartime minefield with a blond who would combust at the slightest touch.

"Oh really," Naruto's voice was sarcastic, "tell me then, all knowing sage, why is it that everyone seems to be able to see the future but me? Am I just the only one who doesn't have that magical ability or do you all consider me that stupid?" The frustration bubbled, sparking dangerously close to that fatal fuse.

A hand with webbed fingers raised to calm him. "That is not what I meant young one; all I mean is to warn you and gain information." He gestured to the solitary chair that was right next to him. The motion shushed his anger, but the sparks were still smoldering in the ashes.

Naruto considered refusing the request, it was his house after all. But,grinding his teeth and baring with it, he complies with the aged amphibian. The embers were quenched, but the tinder could ignite at any time.

The toad nodded in appreciation, attempting to keep the boy calm and level-headed during what was sure to be a stressful conversation. He prayed that the boy gained at least a grain of control from his paternal DNA.

Comfortably in his seat to sit in a relaxed, subtly hiding his hands under the scratched table surface, Naruto braced his mind for any possible psychological beating. "Now if anything makes you uncomfortable, you can just remain silent," he calmly stated. "When did you learn of Jiraiya's death," the first question started morbidly.

"I was told when I was in the Hokage tower. No one else said anything to me before that," the blond youth answered quickly, wasting no time in providing a return to the question.

The senior moved on smoothly, not letting Naruto take any ground, "Did you have any prior knowledge of what Jiraiya was doing when he died?" And so the battle of verbal attacks and counters began, neither player appearing to hold the upper hand, even for a moment.

"No," Naruto shook his head, "All I knew is that he went off to research the Akastsuki." The toad knitted his brow while thinking, as if to solve some complex convoluted riddle.

"Before his death, Jiraiya left behind a code," he stated evenly, placing a scroll on the table, " does it hold any meaning for you?" The blond shinobi reached for the scroll and broke the seal. The outer paper was a dusty green and the paper seal that held no identifying marks. The paper rustled as the wrapped scroll spread out under Naruto's fingertips across the tabletop.

A few seconds passed as the teenager's eyes flickered across the seemingly random symbols written in some mysterious pattern. Naruto sat back against the chair looking up and shaking his head, "No, I don't have a clue. It looks like a bunch of random marks to me." The pint-sized sage sighed at the lack of useful information, a frustrated edge creeping its way in there. This calm questioning was getting nowhere fast and time was running out.

"Naruto, is there anything you want to tell or ask me?" The large, alien looking eyes turned full force at the shinobi diagonally across the only surface between them. Suddenly Naruto wished that there was a greater buffer betwixt him and the unstable amphibian.

"What do you mean," he said confused, in a truthfully innocent connotation. This was becoming a possibly volatile situation and things were not going well, even from his inexperienced perspective.

"I think you know exactly what I mean," he told in an aggressive undertone. The blond felt his heart pace faster, compensating for his minor outer reaction. The shinobi shook his head. He denied nor confirmed anything, Jiraiya had been able to teach him that much about trying to lie: Leave the victim in doubt, and redirect the focus elsewhere.

The scrutiny continued for about a for about a minute, neither party willing to lose the battle of wills. Like a battle where the blades had been crossed, sparks blinding both warriors as they tried to overthrow the other. Taking a loss, but not accepting defeat, the toad withdrew his accusation with a bitter expression. His eyes distant, he zoned in on the next target, finding a weak-spot in the surprisingly strong brutal front.

"Moving on," he sighed with resign, "there's only one more question that I would like an answer to," he left off patiently, quickly deciding how to carefully piece together his question, drawing out the almost insufferable silence.

Naruto played with his fingers hidden under the table-top, keeping the anxious feeling off his face. How much was this old toad implying? Or even worse, _Does he know about Minato?_

"What do you know about the Yondaime-Hokage?" _Oh fuck._

The boy bit his tongue for a quick instant. "Other then anything a four-year old in this village can tell you? Not much: He was Jiraiya's student, became Hokage very young, and then died," Naruto stated factually, "I take I don't need to describe that action much do I?"

None of it was a lie, he hadn't exactly gotten any answers out of Minato to supplement any real useful information. It wasn't really lying was it?

"I see," the skepticism rang clear, "that will be all for you for awhile." Relief was visually seen washing over Naruto's clenched form. The chair legs slid back against the worn wood floor, following the grooves from repeated actions, and Naruto could almost taste the freedom on his tongue.

Until a webbed four-fingered hand kept him firmly seated. The blond shinobi grabbed at the rubbery feeling wrist, jerking as hard as he could to release his upper arm. Not for the first time, though, Naruto was deceived by appearances, for the tiny being had physical strength equivalent to the fully grown man Minato was.

"That wasn't a dismissal young-one," the toad said in a strict lecturing tone. He ended the boy's attempts of release by forcing him, rather firmly, to sit back down in the previously vacated seat.

"Excuse me? This is my apartment! What hell of a right do you have telling me what to do after interrogating me in my own home, when I wasn't even asked if I wanted you here?" Naruto was thoroughly pissed to say the least, and irritated and frustrated to put it mildly. What did this self-imposing, annoying, irritating, pint-sized, senile old toad want?

"The fact that you're hiding something that could be crucial to the ultimate fate of this village makes any of those facts null and void! I could report you to your superiors for hiding such important information!" The epic conflicting battle ignited the sparks again, reaching dangerously close to the explosive.

"I thought you were finished with these stupid questions," Naruto protested, frustration and fury boiling in his blood.

"Someone really needs to teach you the art of lying boy, because you fail at it miserably." The words were cold now, the voice of an experienced and season warrior instead of an aging grandparent.

"You're insane!" _Among other things, this old guy has lost his freaking marbles. _

"If you honestly have nothing to hide, why are you creating such a fuss," the toad questioned desperately. He had strength, but the endurance of early life was easily outmatched by the more youthful blond teenager.

"Because I'm being attacked and accused of things that I don't even know of!"

_Why couldn't he just leave?_

"Why do you keep hiding this? Jiraiya was not one to keep such secrecy."

_He had to go there didn't he?_

"Firstly," Naruto began holding up a finger, "I'm not him. Secondly, what exactly am I supposed to be hiding?" He kept the two fingers raised, desperately resisting the instinctual action of punching the obnoxious jerk in the face.

"Jiraiya would want you to tell me," and he was suddenly interrupted by a loud crash. Naruto was on his feet, broken free from his restrictive hold, having knocked the light chair, slamming it backwards into the floor.

"Well I won't ever know what he would have wanted because he's not here anymore and I can't ask him!" Naruto's breath was coming ragged from his exploding fury, rapidly matching his racing heart. His fists were stark white, paler then the purest clouds in the sky.

The blond shook his hair out of his eyes, staring down at the table, resisting the temptation to knock the irritant flat. "Get out," he said eerily calmly while pointing his finger towards the door, "get out and don't come back. You're no longer welcome here."

Silence. Bursting his eardrums wide open; the quiet made him feel uncomfortably ill.

Naruto didn't look at him, waiting to be alone. He heard the toad's clothes rustle and he hoped for a moment that the thing would actually leave him be. However, what actually did happen was the last thing he would have ever expected, the words shocking him to his core.

"Yondaime, I'd like to speak to you as well."

Minato opened the door to view the tense setting in the room before him, nervous of what he was about to see. Almost taking a sigh of relief that his son was still unharmed, his thankful mood was very short-lived.

He fist looked at Naruto. His son's form was clenched, almost as if in pain, standing in front of an overturned chair and a rather unperturbed toad. His eyes then changed to shift to the tiny wrinkled being sitting in the scaled miniature throne.

The only adult in the room walked silently, with a calm appearance on his visage, over to be by his son, stranding in-between the unwelcome guest and the shorter blond. His son's presence nearly knocked him over, the emanating rage and fury would give both himself and Naruto's mother a run for their money.

He mentally tried to calm Naruto, but his futile attempts produced no results as Naruto refused to look up at him. It unnerved him slightly that he was that attuned to Naruto's emotions and feelings, but was comforted by the growing bond.

The command to squeeze the boy's shoulder reached his arm before he could stifle it. Instead, his left fist clenched tightly, unintentionally cracking the knuckle loudly in the quiet room, attracting the attention of both people.

Naruto glanced in his direction at the sudden sound in the heavy silence. Was he also looking to him for leadership as well? Did his son trust him that much as of yet?

Retaining his composure, Minato picked up the discarded chair, lucky to be in one solid piece, and reset it in a proper upright position and delicately directed Naruto to sit down.

Surprisingly, he met minimal resistance from the teenager who sat somewhat willingly down at the slightest pressure. From the grasp on his shoulder, he could feel every tense movementas well as the quick beating of Naruto's heart making its way from the chambers, through the veins, and pulsing rhythmically under his palm.

His hand stayed on his son's shoulder, desperately trying to soothe him away from the numb state he was in. Minato felt another eruption on the horizon if he didn't cool the inner boiling magma.

At last, he turned his yellow covered head to the toad who was silently observing him in a keen sort of way. "You look very well for one who has been dead for over 15 years I must say."

The light-eyed man remained stoically wordless. He analyzed each word spoken with great care as well as the speaker himself, scanning for any sign of threat. He was not going to allow any threat near Naruto in his recovering state.

Seeing that polite pleasantries were not gaining any ground, the toad quickly switched tactics. Always the diplomat, he turned to a more blunt and quick approach with the father.

"I'll get to my point quickly then; firstly, how much of my previous conversation with your," Minato felt a tick contract in his face, "friend right here did you overhear." He made eye contact with the blue-eyed man, telling him exactly that he saw every movement and heard every syllable.

"I heard enough to understand the situation," he confirmed somewhat coldly, untrusting of the intruder.

"Good, then I shouldn't have to reiterate anything then," the toad said thankfully, " I should begin by asking,"

"How did you find out," Naruto finally spoke suddenly, picking his head up. The inherited blue eyes blazed with an intimidating fire, and Minato was taken aback by the power that came from someone so young and inexperienced.

The tiny creature thought for a moment, "I learned after our first encounter. I followed you to seek a conversation with you when you were alone, wanting to ask you some questions, after you found out about Jiraiya's death. "

Cocking his head slightly to one side, " Later on, when you were walking about the village at night, I found you when the brown-haired man left." All most sarcastically he added, " Imagine my surprise when a dead man comes and sits down with you."

"hmmm," the boy hums with disinterest, zoning out away from the inhabitant room he was in to a peaceful isolated place beyond. The toad grunted in annoyance at the lack of response from Naruto.

A dull thudding knock sounded pounding at the entrance door and all heads turn towards it. The three warriors looked at each other as if unsure what to do with such a simple dilemma. They sat in silence maybe hopping that whoever it was that was causing the disruption would give up and go away.

The slamming fist hammered into the door again, this time with more persistence and hinted desperation from the knocker. Naruto slowly got up from his seat, Minato's warm comforting hand sliding off him. Placing a hand on the door handle he twisted around to look at his two unusual guests and made a sign for them to stay out of sight.

The door opened cautiously, hiding the two guest from view after Minato soundlessly moved to stand on the farther side of the main room.

Standing in the doorway, which a desperately anxious expression was Konohamaru, fist raised to slam the door again. The brunette sputtered out, "!"

Naruto stared at him for a moment, "What?"

Panting, he strained to speak clearly, "Something's gone wrong! I don't know. People are panicking, and Tsunade's called everyone to the tower, and I mean now!" He grabbed onto Naruto's wrist and forcefully dragged him out the door before the blond could even close it behind him.

Minato quickly assumed a inconspicuous henge and walked purposely towards the open door. Grabbing a hand on the outer knob, a voice spoke behind him. "You haven't told him yet have you," the toad stated knowingly.

"I'm waiting for the right opportunity, " he said without looking back, not letting on that he was running out of excuses to keep the truth from Naruto.

"Do you have any idea how you came back?" The question was serious but not accusing.

"No," Minato whispered. "I don't even know," he paused for a minute, "exactly what I am anymore." He turned his now full head of brown hair with matching grey eyes behind him to look at the listener, " it's like my body can't make up its mind if I want to be alive or dead."

Minato raised his left palm to his face, observing the lines and calluses that decorated it. He rubbed the back of his head, another trait he passed down, and sighed while shaking the thoughts temporarily away.

"Just remember Minato, other blacker forces are waiting for the right opportunity to act as well," the warning was clear as pure glass used for windows.

"We shall have to discuss these matters on a later date, because I believe I have an important announcement that I'm missing ," he told while closing the door behind him.

Sitting alone in the apartment, the toad pondered for a moment the scene he had just held witness to. He just realized how complicated the prophecy had become with Minato's reappearance in the living world. With a burst of smoke the toad was gone, back to whatever mysterious place he came from to ponder the prophecy again and peruse the most interesting turn of events.

He knew that every breath of the father and the son was being watched with utter scrutiny, the viper waiting to strike with his vile toxic poison to land the killing blow.

The shadows were certainly whispering darkly indeed.


End file.
